An Excursion into Brittany

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Sunday 24 May 2015

Brittany has been on our bucket list even before we started the planning for this trip. This part of France has always seemed to be different. Today we are about to experience the culture ourselves. Seafood, crepes and cider are a strong drawcard and places such as St Malo, Dinan and Mont St Michel are on every tourist's visiting list.

Before leaving Granville we followed the Centre Ville signs to the old part of the city. Being a Sunday we thought everything would be closed. How wrong were we. Parking was free so after parking up we wandered the streets to find out what was drawing the crowd. Cafes were doing a roaring trade and one street had an open air market. An amazing array of goods was for sale. Seems like everyone had cleaned out their grandparents home and brought the "stuff" to town for a quick sale. Not sure if this was a weekly event or not but the market was certainly busy. The Turkish carpets and antique furniture were tempting but we travel light so wallets stayed firmly closed.

We treated the next part of our drive to Rennes as a reconnaissance trip in preparation for the days to come. We drove towards Mont St Michel and as we got closer there was the mount emerging from the ever present fog. Next stop, St Malo. As we approached the old town it became apparent everyone in Brittany had chosen that day to visit. We'll be back!

Sunday in France is quite different from New Zealand. Shops are shut and families find other ways of entertaining themselves. We needed food and found a large cafeteria open. What a choice of food. We are amazed at the little touches the French have incorporated into everyday life. In this cafeteria you place your finished tray on a conveyor belt and away it goes. We hope someone deals with it before it crashes to the floor at the other end.

We arrive in Rennes, our destination for the next five nights, by mid afternoon. After settling in we make an exploratory drive into the centre of the city. Rennes, a city of 400,000 is building its second underground Metro line. This causes us a small navigational problem, especially when we use the GPS on the way back to the hotel. If we had not been assertive with Polly we would still be turning right. Only the expensive restaurants are open so it is back to our room for a light meal of crackers, tomatoes, peanuts and beer. Tomorrow we'll venture back into the city and see what really makes it tick.

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Photos

Granville
Trying to sell Granny's furniture

Granville
The Sunday market

Mont St Michel
Our first glimpse through the fog.